WASHINGTON – The U.S. House race between GOP incumbent John Culberson and Democratic challenger Lizzie Pannill Fletcher is generally expected to be closer than most in this traditionally Republican enclave of west Houston and the Harris County suburbs.

Now an internal Democratic poll of the 7th Congressional District shows it to be a statistical tie. The poll of district voters, released Friday by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), found Fletcher within 2 points of Culberson, 45 percent to 47 percent.

That is within the poll's 4.9 percent margin of error.

For Democrats, the numbers buoy their hopes since Hillary Clinton bested Donald Trump in the district in the 2016 presidential election.

It also highlights Fletcher's potential strengths among key constituencies against the nine-term GOP incumbent, who has become a top Democratic target in the battle for control of Congress in the November midterm elections.

The DCCC poll shows Fletcher leading Culberson by 8 points among women (50 percent to 42 percent), 20 points among independents (52 percent to 32 percent), and by 28 points among voters under 50 (57 percent to 29 percent).

Further proof that that the district could be in play: The poll found that a generic Democrat is within striking distance of a generic Republican – 46 percent to 47 percent. That's tighter than the difference between Fletcher and Culberson, but still within the margin of error.

The Democratic poll also gave Culberson a net-negative favorability rating, with 32 percent of voters having a favorable view of the congressman, compared to 39 percent who don't. Similarly, the poll found that 35 percent of voters approve of Culberson's job performance, while 39 percent disapprove.

Meanwhile, Trump also remains underwater in a district, which he lost by 1.4 points in 2016. In the DCCC poll, 50 percent of Seventh District voters disapprove of his job performance, while 42 percent approve.

Culberson campaign spokeswoman Catherine Kelly dismissed the significance of the DCCC numbers, saying, "There will be a lot of polls between now and November, but at the end of the day, Houstonians know John Culberson has always delivered for them."

Texas's 7th congressional district includes parts of Houston and its surrounding suburbs and is contained entirely within Harris County. The results were based on a DCCC survey of 404 likely general election voters, selected from voter rolls. The telephone survey, using both live cell and automated calls, took place from May 23 up until Thursday.

Fletcher, a Houston attorney, defeated writer-activist Laura Moser in the Democratic primary runoff on May 22.

Kevin Diaz came to the Houston Chronicle in February 2014 with more than a decade of experience covering Washington. Before that, he was the chief Washington correspondent for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, where he got his start in journalism in 1984 as a night cops reporter. During his tenure in Minneapolis, he won awards for his coverage of gang crime and city hall. He also taught public affairs reporting at the University of Minnesota, where he received his Master’s. After a stint at the Washington (D.C.) City Paper, Kevin went back to the Star Tribune, where he won national awards for articles on globalization and immigration. He also covered the 9/11 terrorist attacks from Washington and New York. Born and raised in Italy, Kevin has reported from Italy, Brazil, Mexico, and Cuba, where he covered Jesse Ventura’s 2002 trade mission. In 2003, he filed daily Iraq War dispatches for McClatchy Newspapers from the U.S. Central Command in Qatar. In 2006, he covered the presidential election standoff in Mexico. He also has covered Washington for the Anchorage Daily News and the Idaho Statesman.